According to court documents, the state did not have enough evidence to take the case to trial.

Accusation

A 27-year-old woman reported to police that she was drugged, driven to Smith’s Lakefront Drive home in Charlotte and sexually assaulted by the men.

The incident reportedly happened on March 3. The woman waited nearly two days before reporting it to police, according to court documents.

Court documents state that the woman had consumed a considerable amount of alcohol before coming in contact with the men. And that she consumed drugs after meeting up with them.

The case would be challenging to prove because of the woman’s level of intoxication, delay in reporting and lack of witnesses to prove her mental or physical capability at the time.

“We didn’t have the evidence to proceed further,” said Mecklenburg County Assistant District Attorney Spencer Merriweather.

Imprisonment

After his arrest, Henson was held in Mecklenburg County Jail on a $50,000 secured bond. Smith was assigned a $100,000 secured bond.

Henson said he spent two weeks in jail before raising enough money to make bail without using a bail bondsman.

Smith said he stayed locked up for 10 days then paid a bail bondsman $500 to get out.

Smith described his time in jail as horrific.

“It was animalistic,” he said. “I saw somebody get jumped and shanked. It was a really hard experience. And not being able to talk with anyone on the outside was demoralizing.”

Recovery

Henson and Smith have been friends since grade school.

Henson said he knew their accuser for several years, and both said they were blindsided by the accusation of sexual assault.

Smith said he and the woman did get intimate the night they met but that it was consensual.

The reported rape made print and broadcast news.

Now the men are contacting news organizations to try and clear their names.

Smith works in internet technology, and Henson owns a heating and air company. Each said not only have they spent thousands of dollars in attorneys’ fees, but they’ve lost customers over the allegations.

“It basically ruined my name,” said Henson. “It was just devastating to both of us.”

The men are now working with their attorneys to get the charges expunged from their records.

You can reach reporter Diane Turbyfill at 704-869-1817 and twitter.com/GazetteDiane.